Monthly Archives: August 2016

In 1917, two ships had a collision on the watersof Halifax (Nova Scotia, Canada). The explosionkilled 2,000 people and injured 9,000 people.The school for the deaf was located near theexplosion. While the explosion damaged theschool, only two students were hurt. All otherswere safe. Why? Possibly because everyonewas kept inside due to blizzard andfreezing weather. Two deaf filmmakers aremaking a film about this school survivingthe explosion as well as to introduce theMaritimes Sign Language, currently dyingright now. A picture is at:

Everyone knows that Gene Wilder passed away andthat Karen Boyer was his wife. Did Wilder reallyhave a connection with the deaf? It was throughhis wife. She was a speech pathologist with theNew York League for the Hard of Hearing. Hewanted to know more about the deaf because ofhis role in the movie – Hear No Evil, See No Evil.Not only she taught him lipreading and on whatdeafness was all about, but she became his wife!

— home-made DVDs are hot sellers

Ayodele Maja is a deaf Nigerian man who isan expert with electronics. He came up witha low cost DVD player, much lower in costthen any other DVDs sold in stores. Wordgot around and he has made many sales.He wishes to expand his business and toemploy factory workers – but said it isimpossible in Nigeria. For now he continueswith these home-made DVDs, built by handnot by machines.

In USA we have a known deaf balloon pilot. It isClinton Glancy, Goshen, Ohio. There may be othersbut Glancy is the only known one. And even thereis a deaf crew that helps a hearing balloon piloton his air rides! Miyamoto Yasuhiro, who is deaf,wants to become Japan’s first deaf balloon pilit.The government says no, saying radio use is required.Well, Ohio says yes, while Japan says no. A pictureis at:

Not sure why the newspaper wrote it that way – unlessthe hearing impoared team consists of players thathave hearing losses in the mild and moderate ranges(very low decibels)?

— judge says discrimination is “nothing”

A deaf husband wanted an interpreter whilewitnessing the childbirth of his hearing wife.The hospital refused, saying husband is notthe patient while the wife (who does not needan interpeter) is the patient. This casewent to the court. The judge ruled against thedeaf husband, saying his discriminationcomplaint is “nothing”! The deaf husbandhas filed an appeal. This case is in Australia,not USA!

For the deaf to use their tongue, not ears(hearing aids, CI’s) to hear? Weird?Not to researchers at Colorado StateUniversity! They have come up with aspecial mouthpiece that fits underthe tongue. A picture is at:

Did we ever had a hospital only for deaf patients?There was a short newspaper story in Knoxville,TN, that mentons it, but with a differentwording. The paper said that in the late 19thcentury, a medical facility for the deaf existedin the Stair Building in downtown Knoxville.Medical facility for the deaf same as deafhospital?

— local pizza chain thanks the deaf

A fast growing pizza chain in Washington,area is &pizza (spelling is correct). The&pizza founders established its firstoutlet at a food court across the streetfrom Gallaudet Universiy. They selectedthe location, not because of Gallaudetbut because they felt the demographicswas perfect. The first day the placeopened up for business, the firsteight customers were deaf! Thanks toGallaudet, this &pizza chain grewfast right now, 20 outlets have openedup in the Washington, DC area and itis still growing.

Are there licensed deaf cab drivers in New YorkCity? We are not talking about deaf Lyfftand Uber drivers but of real cab drivers.There is one that is deaf – Yuriy Grinman.To help with his work, he uses taxi-hailingapp for customers to pick their destinations.He said – “I see the noise of New York – butI don’t have to hear it”. His picture is at:

Newly born babies now routinely go through hearingtests. How long does a hearing test take? Just12 seconds according to a testing center inAustralia.

— Marlee teaches deaf how to deal with police

There have been too many ugly deaf-policeincidents. The American Civil Liberties Unionhas contracted with Marlee Matlin to producea video on how should a deaf person deal withthe police. This is important during trafficstops and arrests. What does Marlee know aboutthe police? Her husband is a police officer!